lostcarnival | ⇨ POLARIS AFTERMATH

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⇨ POLARIS AFTERMATH

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 115-118
Where: Polaris/Wyldlands
What: After killing the Mother of Invention, the majority of the carnival has decided to take some time and sort out the Polaris refugees before heading to the Summerlands. This log covers miscellaneous post-Mother Polaris drama, as well as some light camping in the Wyldlands down below.
Warnings: Idk, stuff, I guess.

ADAPTATION↴

After the battle, the majority of carnival members will opt to remain in the secured section to Polaris, hoping to spend some time making sure that the rest of Polaris is liberated. Many of the staff are not capable of coming to grips with the fact that the Mother is dead so quickly, and the remaining Alphas are doing their best to keep Polaris under their sway. It will be a busy few days of changing minds and exploring the remains of the station. Thankfully, with everyone's powers intact and allies at their side, they finally have the advantage.

► SHIFTING STATES: Right off the bat, about 10% of the staff will immediately change sides upon hearing whats become of the Mother. They are actively eager to get away from Polaris, and will do whatever they can assist the carnival. This is mostly Gammas and a few Betas, who were working primarily under duress. Over the next day or two, those numbers will grow to at least 30%, with some of the staff managing to convince their colleagues to join them. About two days after starting, one of the Alphas will surrender to the carnival, encouraging those beneath her to support their cause. That leaves four Alphas remaining, and staff cooperation at 50%.

► CAPTIVE ATTENTION: The loyalist staff's main tactics are trying to create defensive points within the various test group areas, using the prisoners as hostages. Luckily, the carnival (and the staff on their side) will be in a position where it's possible to push them out with a mixture of convincing and force. Once prisoners start being freed, there will be even more force backing the carnival's efforts, meaning that it will essentially become a matter of cleaning up the remaining staff rather than any uphill battles. Most of this is being left vague intentionally, as most of this action is being handwaved. However, you can play out parts of it if you want and NPC technicians and rescuees. Other test groups can be filled with basically whatever kind of residents you like, since they are grabbed from across the multiverse. Most of the test areas are similar to B7.

► THE JACKPOT: Alongside cleaning up the staff, some members of the carnival have expressed interest in convincing the staff to help them with armoury issues as well as hunting down some of the Mother's most private loot. This will be handled in investigations, mostly through summary, because I don't have it in me for another megathread right now. Post your plans, and I will respond! However, know that I also don't have time to generate five million special items, so loot drops will be limited to my availability. Also, the techs aren't really blacksmiths so they generally won't really be able creating weapons from scratch or anything.

Meanwhile, Ignatius is going to set up a camp ground outside of Polaris, mostly because he doesn't want to be there anymore. He'll keep a fire going and they can drag things from Polaris down there for camping purposes, and mostly Ignatius is just going to be chilling and making sure that the campground doesn't get assaulted by magical creatures. The Gilded Mark will create a portal between the campground and the station so that people can go back and forth as required. It also creates a handy escape route.

You can even see Polaris from here, floating up there in the sky. How picturesque.

► WYLDERKIN: Apparently not everything in the Wyld Lands is a full Wyld Fae - there are also a lot of less powerful creatures called 'wylderkin' - apparently lesser forms of the Wyld Fae, who are more akin to animal level intelligence. They can be a variety of expected fantasy type creatures, such as flower sprites, weird bugs, and general prey animals they probably spend most of their time getting eaten by bigger dudes. All of them are sort of weird and fantastical, and none of them are exactly like earth varieties, though they may resemble them. They are more of a pest than a major threat in this part of the Wyld Lands, and Ignatius will scare away any that cause too many problems.

► FLORA AND FLUID: There are some plants that you can eat down here, that Ignatius will tell you about. Mostly weird berries and roots. There is also some pools of clear water, thought hey are filled with weird fish. Try not to bitten by any weird leeches. You can safely make up some of the creatures you find as long as they fit the general theme of lesser faerie creatures. This is just a rest stop.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Usually a girl wouldn't be recovering from a session of torture followed by the murder of a True Fae followed by the apparent liberation of all of the dead fae's changelings," Strange quickly retorts. Nothing about their situation is usual. Nothing about this situation has ever been usual. And Strange knows that Rita's been with the carnival long enough and is certainly clever enough to realize just how not usual their entire circumstances are.

"Besides, I wanted to talk more about your idea of returning to Shabon. I figure you'd want to speak of that in private."

Rita doesn't like to show her feelings. Any conversations involving 9S would involve her feelings. Ergo, Strange is being considerate and offering her the benefit of closed doors and woefully alcohol-free beverages.

Edited 2018-11-16 04:38 (UTC)

Rita's dubious stare lingers, but at the mention of Shabon, there's a brief conflicted look in her expression... and then she sighs.

As much as she'd like to give Strange a hard time and go back to not addressing any of her feelings... there is a part of her that doesn't want to dismiss him outright. After all, he's one of few people who actually understands why she wants to go to Shabon so badly.

"...All right. I'm done with this for the day anyway," she says, gesturing back at the storage room before turning back to Strange, adding in a lighter, slightly more amicable tone, "Lead the way."

And so he does. Strange starts to walk back towards the main Delta area, where the final fight happened and where some of the carnival's set up for the night. As he does so, he takes a quick look down at the drinks in his hand.

"I've got something that's ostensibly blueberry and something that's ostensibly grapefruit. Both look slightly disgusting and are unfortunately non-alcoholic, so take your pick."

"You didn't have to get drinks if they're just going to be gross," Rita says flatly. But, in case Strange was about to take a non-answer as a prompt to go ahead and choose for her, she adds, "I'll try the blueberry," and holds out a hand to take it.

Better something that's gross, but sweet, than something that's gross and bitter.

And he hands the drink over.

"Truth be told, I was looking for something alcoholic. However, it looks like the shop's been heavily picked over in the chaos of the past few days." Chaos is putting it nicely. Giant, slightly insane trainwreck is something more akin to the current state of Polaris.

"Here we are," Strange remarks, as he pushes open the door to one of the Delta sleeping areas. Which Delta slept here before? Hell if he knows! But Strange has already made it his own thanks to a slight clutter of food wrappers as well as his reddish-orange fire-resistant cape, currently spread out over one of the beds and serving as a makeshift sheet.

Rita looks around the room, then gravitates to the couch. She seats herself, taking care not to disturb the heavily bound wing behind her. She holds the drink over her lap, considering the minimalist label on the can.

"...We're not going to Shabon, are we," she says, still staring downward. It's an obvious enough conclusion, given how virtually no one agreed with her suggestion. But to Rita, who wanted to believe they'd go retrieve 9S as soon as they were able, just like they'd retrieve anyone separated from the rest of the carnival, it's a fact that takes some time to really sink in.

"We're not," Strange verifies, as he pops open his drink. He can't help but be a bit downcast as well. While Rita's realized they aren't going to Shabon, Strange has realized there's no way he'll be going home any time soon.

Which sucks. Because he still does not want to be here and is not entirely behind risking his life for the Ringmaster.

"I wish we could," he sighs. And then, because he's still trying to internalize Yuya's pep talk about talking about his feelings, Strange continues. "If I could blow all this off, leave this Courtly revenge nonsense behind us, and take you to Shabon then I would. I signed up for a year in a carnival, not a possible eternity of all...this."

Rita looks up in surprise. Would he really do that...?

"...Didn't think I'd be hearing that sort of thing from you," she says, popping open the can and squinting at the opening, as if hoping to gain some insight on the drink by looking at it. "It always seemed like you had more... I don't know, faith, than I ever did." She gives up on examining the drink and takes a small, cautious sip as her gaze drifts off to the side.

"These past few months have been a challenge," Strange admits. It feels like ever since the Athenaeum, the universe has decided to consistently punish him for his decisions. All he wants is to just catch a friggen break, not go from being trapped in a fae artifact to fighting the Wyld Hunt to being tortured in Theta.

"I want to leave this place, go home, and be with my wife before something kills me again."

"Hm," Rita murmurs in response, partly reacting to the odd taste of the beverage. It's not terrible, but it definitely isn't great.

"Here I thought you'd be in a more triumphant mood. After all, Ignatius isn't a prisoner anymore, and just about everyone acknowledges him as an ally at this point." That's what Strange wanted, isn't it? Rita would even say he was obsessed with the matter, and seeing him trying to kiss the guy earlier leads her to think that probably hasn't changed much.

"When I was in Theta, they turned the bones of my arm into mirrors," Strange says, rather abruptly. Thankfully, he quickly clarifies with, "I'm overjoyed that the carnival actually trusts Ignatius, of course. I just wish that it came without his entire aspect changing and can't help but dwell on just how fragile I am now."

The whole matter of Ignatius's aspect changing rubs him the wrong way, mostly because he's not entirely sure how many people in the carnival get it.

Rita gives him a long stare, surprise apparent in her eyes. It's not just the realization of what was done to him, but also... "So you're actually taking your health seriously for once." It's a heck of a change, for a guy who once tried to ingest all kinds of poisons just to see if he could drive himself nuts. "Just between you and me, I'd prefer if you don't get shattered into pieces, too."

As Rita tries to think of how she feels about the immediate future, however, she finds herself conflicted.

"...To be honest, I don't know what I want to do. I don't want to run, exactly... but it'd be a lot easier to stick things out if..." She averts her gaze and takes another sip of the drink, mentally weighing how honest she wants to be. "...if he were here."

"I'm taking my stability seriously," Strange clarifies. Because he knows that he stuck a finger covered in Yuya's mystery blood in his mouth, he can't really claim that he's taking his health seriously or anything of that sort. Though, there is a bit of a wry smile on his face as Rita points out that she doesn't want him to be shattered. That's as much of a 'I care about you' as he'd ever get from her.

But soon, the conversation shifts to 9S: the real reason why Strange invited Rita over. He takes a sip of his nasty drink before he nods. "I feel the same way. I don't want Arabella here because she'd be hurt, but at the same time I'd do anything to have her here with me." There's a pause, before Strange asks. "What's your favorite thing about being with 9S?"

If this is going to be the slightly melancholic hour, might as well indulge in it. Besides, it's best if Rita remembers and focuses on all the things she likes about 9S instead of falling into a self-sabotaging spiral of him not being here.

Edited 2018-11-20 02:57 (UTC)

"Wh... huh? What do you want to know that for?" Rita sputters, giving Strange a suspicious look.

The notion of actually talking about her feelings with someone else is kind of foreign to Rita, so naturally, her first thought is that he's just digging for teasing material. He sounded weirdly sincere while asking, though, so... ???

...he really should have expected this. So, Strange starts off first.

"My favorite thing about being with Arabella is how she makes everything easier. I could be stuck on a spell or worrying about something I need to publish, but then I take a look at her and it feels like a weight is lifted off of my chest." He leans back slightly as a dopey, nostalgic smile plants itself on Strange's face.

"I still have to work out that spell or finish my publication, of course. But in that moment, none of it matters. And when I return to what I'm working on, it's inevitably with new ideas and heightened motivation."

The perplexed look on Rita’s face persists, then gradually softens as Strange describes his feelings for Arabella. There’s a feeling of something pulling at her chest, a vague sense of familiarity and longing.

“Oh, so that’s what we’re doing.” She tries to sound aloof as she tries to find the words to describe her own feelings.

“When I talk to Nines... I feel like I can believe in humanity. I used to hate people, for the most part, and even though I’m past that, it’s hard not to be cynical when it feels like the whole universe is full of idiots.”

At last, that slight softening in her expression seems to reach her eyes. “He always tries to see the best in humans. Sometimes he’s just being naive, but... sometimes, he has a point, and everything feels a little less hopeless because of it.”

There we go. Strange smiles at Rita, giving her a little nod as she speaks. Honestly, he has only the smallest idea of what he's doing, but it's working so far so Strange continues.

"When I first met Nines, he asked me so many questions about humanity. What my world was like, what marriage was, things like that. Most people would simply ask and then walk away but he genuinely wanted to know what my answers were and cared about what I said."

There's a pause before Strange gently continues, "He cares about you most of all."

Rita's face reddens, and she lifts the drink to obscure it, even if just a little.

"...I know he does. Any time something happens and I start to worry he'll think less of me, he barely bats an eye. It's hard to stay worried about anything, really, when he's around..." She stares out at some distant corner of the room, picturing it now. His gentle words, the touch of his hand... If Rita had those now, she'd feel strong enough to overcome anything.

He thinks he can do this. All he's got to do is tell Rita all the things that Strange wishes someone would tell him. That should be simple enough.

Calmly, Strange reaches over to attempt to give Rita's hand a small squeeze.

"You'll see him again. Even if everything else goes wrong, we'll find a way to cross realms and find him. And no matter what, I'm certain he's out there, in Shabon, looking for ways to cross realms and find you."

Strange's extended hand gets a dubious look from Rita, though she doesn't pull her own hand away. He's really trying to cheer her up, isn't he?

"Hmph..." Rita scoffs. "That's what I'm worried about, you know. If he can't sit still until I get back there... if he goes out looking for me, then what? What if he does something stupid, like following after the Winter Court by himself?"

He's trying his hardest, okay?

"If he goes out looking for you, then we'll go out looking for him. But considering how the carnival tends to leave destruction in it's wake, I think he'll have it easier. It's easy to spot where we've been."

Half of the places they stop at, they leave radically changed. 9S would find out about Polaris at some point: you can't hide something like fae murder.

Rita looks ready to argue, but Strange’s next point, about the trail they’ll leave, is a little easier to swallow. She sighs, sinking back into the couch a little more.

“...I hope so,” she murmurs, conceding for now. “I kinda wish he could see what we’ve done with this place. He’d approve, I think.” He’d probably also be completely horrified at all that happened in Polaris in the first place, so maybe it’s a good thing that he missed that part.

“...I wonder if this place is anything like the place he came from...”

"Didn't his world not have humans any more? If it is similar, I wonder what the test subjects would be."

Of course, there's similar as in 'similar aesthetic' and there's similar as in 'carbon copy murder world.' Strange is interpreting this closer to the latter.

"I don't mean that part," Rita protests, frowning. "I just mean... the look of the place, the people, the technology... the rigid organization, the way everyone has a number instead of a name, and how they're all given a role they don't dare deviate from."

It was a weird feeling, how rising in the ranks and gaining more freedom only made Rita feel more restrained, in a lot of ways. She can't imagine living her whole life like that.

That makes sense! Strange lets out a little 'mmhmm' of acknowledgement as he nods.

"I think he'd approve as well. There were moments when it seemed that 9S loathed the role his world had shoved him and others he cared about in." Most notably, 2B. "Hopefully those poor Gammas, Deltas, and what have you adapt to their new world as well as he did."

Because if not...well, that's not their problem, is it. Strange doesn't really want to think about it. Instead, he takes a sip of his drink and scrunches his nose up slightly at the flavor. It really is kind of horrible.

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